1950–51 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey season

1950–51 Michigan Wolverines
men's ice hockey season
1950–51 Michigan Wolverines; men's ice hockey season
National champion; 1951 NCAA Tournament, champion
Home ice	Weinberg Coliseum
Record
Overall	22–4–1
Home	13–2–1
Road	7–2
Neutral	2–0
Coaches and captains
Head coach	Vic Heyliger
Captain(s)	Gil Burford
	Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey seasons; « 1949–50 1951–52 »

The 1950–51 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college ice hockey during the 1950–51 NCAA men's ice hockey season. The head coach was Vic Heyliger and the team captain was Gil Burford. The team won the 1951 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. The team's leading scorer was Neil Celley, who broke Michigan's single-season scoring record with 79 points (40 goals, 39 assists) and led the NCAA in scoring.

Standings

1950–51 NCAA Independent ice hockey standings v t e
	Intercollegiate							Overall
	GP	W	L	T	Pct.	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
American International	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17	8	8	1	–	–
Army	12	1	10	1	.125	29	74	13	2	10	1	33	76
Boston College	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	20	12	8	0	105	89
Boston University	21	16	5	0	.762	149	59	21	16	5	0	149	59
Bowdoin	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	12	6	5	1	–	–
Brown	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	24	18	6	0	172	72
Colby	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Colorado College	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	25	16	8	1	192	130
Dartmouth	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	19	9	9	1	71	89
Denver	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	23	11	11	1	134	111
Hamilton	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	16	7	9	0	–	–
Harvard	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	23	12	11	0	117	91
Lehigh	1	1	0	0	1.000	6	1	5	4	1	0	35	14
Massachusetts	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	7	0	7	0	10	40
Michigan	20	18	2	0	.900	159	69	27	22	4	1	212	100
Michigan State	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17	6	11	0	65	95
Michigan Tech	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	21	5	14	2	89	134
Minnesota	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	26	14	12	0	140	112
MIT	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10	0	10	0	–	–
New Hampshire	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9	5	4	0	44	34
North Dakota	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	26	12	12	2	116	139
North Dakota Agricultural	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Northeastern	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	19	8	11	0	90	77
Norwich	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	12	6	6	0	–	–
Princeton	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	18	7	10	1	100	111
Saint Michael's	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	6	3	3	0	33	39
St. Olaf	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9	5	3	1	–	–
Wyoming	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	12	4	8	0	–	–
Yale	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17	14	2	1	116	43

Schedule

During the season Michigan compiled a 22–4–1 record, the fourth consecutive year that the team won at least 80% of their games. Their schedule was as follows.^[1]

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Venue	Location	Record
Dec. 8, 1950	Detroit Auto Club	8–6	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	1–0
Dec. 15, 1950	Princeton	11–6	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	2–0
Dec. 16, 1950	Princeton	10–2	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	3–0
Dec. 21, 1950	Western Ontario	8–2	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	4–0
Dec. 22, 1950	Western Ontario	14–1	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	5–0
Dec. 27, 1950	Boston College	11–2	Win	Boston Arena	Boston, MA	6–0
Dec. 29, 1950	Boston University	3–2	Win	Boston Arena	Boston, MA	7–0
Jan. 5, 1951	Minnesota	5–4*	Win	Williams Arena	Minneapolis, MN	8–0
Jan. 6, 1951	Minnesota	6–4	Win	Williams Arena	Minneapolis, MN	9–0
Jan. 12, 1951	Montreal	8–8*	Tie	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	9–0–1
Jan. 13, 1951	Montreal	2–3	Loss	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	9–1–1
Jan. 19, 1951	Minnesota	12–2	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	10–1–1
Jan. 20, 1951	Minnesota	8–0	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	11–1–1
Feb. 5, 1951	Denver	5–4	Win	DU Arena	Denver, CO	12–1–1
Feb. 7, 1951	Denver	3–5	Loss	DU Arena	Denver, CO	12–2–1
Feb. 9, 1951	Colorado College	6–4	Win	Broadmoor Ice Palace	Colorado Springs, CO	13–2–1
Feb. 10, 1951	Colorado College	7–9	Loss	Broadmoor Ice Palace	Colorado Springs, CO	13–3–1
Feb. 16, 1951	Toronto	9–5	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	14–3–1
Feb. 17, 1951	Toronto	4–6	Loss	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	14–4–1
Feb. 21, 1951	Michigan State	10–1	Win	Demonstration Hall	East Lansing, MI	15–4–1
Feb. 23, 1951	North Dakota	11–4	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	16–4–1
Feb. 24, 1951	North Dakota	12–4	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	17–4–1
Mar. 3, 1951	Michigan State	9–6	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	18–4–1
Mar. 9, 1951	Michigan Tech	8–3	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	19–4–1
Mar. 10, 1951	Michigan Tech	7–4	Win	Weinberg Coliseum	Ann Arbor, MI	20–4–1
NCAA TOURNAMENT
March 15, 1951	Boston University	8–2	Win	Broadmoor World Arena	Colorado Springs, CO	21–4–1
March 17, 1951	Brown	7–1	Win	Broadmoor World Arena	Colorado Springs, CO	22–4–1
		212–100				22–4–1

* Denotes overtime periods

Roster and scoring statistics

No.	Name	Year	Position	Hometown	Games	Goals	Assists	Pts	PIM
6	Neil Celley	Senior	LW	Eveleth, MN	27	40	39	79	10
8	Gil Burford	Senior	RW	Detroit, MI	27	37	34	71	8
10	John McKennell	Sophomore	RW	Toronto, ON	27	35	22	57	24
4	John Matchefts	Sophomore	C	Eveleth, MN	27	25	31	56	30
7	Earl Keyes	Sophomore	C/G	Tiverton, ON	27	18	25	43	28
15	Al Bassey	Senior	F	Walpole, MA	27	16	17	33	14
5	Bob Heathcott	Junior	D	Calgary, AB	27	12	21	33	40
18	Alex MacLellan	Sophomore	D	Montreal, PQ	27	7	20	27	47
9	Paul Pelow	Junior	C	Toronto, ON	17	9	8	17	32
12	Joe Marmo	Senior	LW	East Boston, MA	27	4	12	16	37
11	Graham Cragg	Junior	D	Edmonton, AB	27	1	12	13	18
14	Gordon Naylor	Sophomore	RW	Montreal, PQ	27	3	8	11	10
3	Eddie May	Junior	D	Edmonton, AB	20	4	2	6	8
	Harry Stuhldreher				7	0	0	0	12
1	Hal Downes	Senior	G	Melrose, MA	27	0	0	0	0
Total						212

^[2]

Goaltending Statistics

No.	Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
1	Hal Downes	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–
7	Earl Keyes	2	–	2	0	0	7	49	0	.875	3.50
Total		27	–	22	4	1	100	–	1	–	–

1951 national championship

(W1) Michigan vs. (E1) Brown

March 17^[3]

Michigan

7 – 1

Brown

Broadmoor Ice Palace

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	UM	Eddie May	Naylor and Marmo	03:49	1–0 UM
1st	UM	Gil Burford – GW	MacLellan	15:24	2–0 UM
2nd	UM	Neil Celley	unassisted	26:41	3–0 UM
	UM	John McKennell	unassisted	30:56	4–0 UM
	UM	Al Bassey	Keyes and MacLellan	34:19	5–0 UM
3rd	BRN	Tony Malo	Wheeler	47:54	5–1 UM
	UM	John McKennell	Burford and Keyes	51:15	6–1 UM
	UM	Neil Celley	Burford	59:38	7–1 UM

Shots by period
Team	1	2	3	T
Michigan	17	21	14	52
Brown	5	4	11	20

Goaltenders
Team	Name	Saves	Goals against	Time on ice
UM	Hal Downes	19	1
BRN	Donald Whiston	45	7

Bob Heathcott, Gil Burford, John Matchefts and Neil Celley were named to the All-Tournament Team^[4]

Notes

Less than year after winning the tournament, Hal Downes was shot down in his B-26 over North Korea and was declared MIA. Though all living POWs were returned to the US in 1953 Downes remained listed as MIA until his remains were returned in 2018.^[5]

References

^ "THROUGH THE YEARS:" (PDF). Michigan Wolverines. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
^ "Univ. of Michigan 1950-51 roster and statistics". EliteProspects. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
^ "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
^ "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
^ "Missing—but not forgotten: What the return of Korean War remains means for the daughter of one American soldier". Wilson Center. Retrieved August 9, 2018.

External links

Official Site
History of the 1950–51 team Archived 2011-11-01 at the Wayback Machine, at page 6

[1] "THROUGH THE YEARS:" (PDF). Michigan Wolverines. Retrieved October 24, 2018.

[2] "Univ. of Michigan 1950-51 roster and statistics". EliteProspects. Retrieved October 24, 2018.

[3] "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archives. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2013.

[4] "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2013.

[5] "Missing—but not forgotten: What the return of Korean War remains means for the daughter of one American soldier". Wilson Center. Retrieved August 9, 2018.

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[5]

v t e Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey
Venues	Weinberg Coliseum (1914–1973) Yost Ice Arena (1973–present)
Coaches	Joseph Barss (1922–27) Eddie Lowrey (1927–44) Vic Heyliger (1944–57) Al Renfrew (1957–73) Dan Farrell (1973–80) Wilf Martin (1980) John Giordano (1980–84) Red Berenson (1984–2017) Mel Pearson (2017–2022) Brandon Naurato (2022–present)
Seasons	1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	MCHA/WIHL/WCHA (1951–1958, 1959–1981) CCHA (1981–2013) Big Ten (1958–1981, 2013–present)
Rivalries	Michigan State Minnesota Notre Dame
Culture & lore	Great Lakes Invitational The Big Chill at the Big House Cold War Faceoff on the Lake
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Brendan Morrison (284 Points) Denny Felsner (139 Goals) Marty Turco (127 Wins)
National championships	1948 1951 1952 1953 1955 1956 1964 1996 1998
Frozen Four appearances	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1962 1964 1977 1992 1993 1995 1996 1997 1998 2001 2002 2003 2008 2011 2018 2022 2023 2024
NCAA Tournament appearances	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1962 1964 1977 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2016 2018 2021 2022 2023 2024
Conference Tournament titles	CCHA: 1994 1996 1997 1999 2002 2003 2005 2008 2010 Big Ten: 2016 2022 2023
Hobey Baker winners	Brendan Morrison (1997) Kevin Porter (2008) Adam Fantilli (2023)
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI